The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-06-16

/ plub IduI ~ Wol0 d u1uuy. clcS) i OA1y
Swisht I'd q thort fur enough ahead wen
Iwere q boy, an I'd KEEP a speeiment o.
this snake jist to show to You, so ye could
see wat funny things natur usety do th't
she don't seem to care durn bout doin'
nowadays. It'd a pleased ye, I know, an
Pm consarned sorry. Wall, the worker
snake were a dandy. It were built on
the plan of q shingle ez to thickness, but
its tail were roundin' like an eel's. The
worker snake were properly six inches
wide; fiat an smooth on top, but roundin.
on the bottom. Wen it Travelled it didn't
wiggle itself along with sideways wiggle
like other snakes, but got over the ground
by an up an down hcHn' of itself th't
were amazin' to see. The worker were
nigh on to three foot long. Its head came
( to sharp pint, like the bow of boat.
a few inches back from the head end the
sunpin' th't looked like q thin piece o.
bone smebbe three inches high an four
or five wide,I 'peared to raise up outen tho
worker snake's back. That was bone,
but it WANT fast to the back Runnin'
from the middle o. the under edge o. that
thin plate o. bone, an fastened to 1t, were
roun' piece o. sumpin' th't looked like q
lead pencil, only 'twere bigger. That dis
appeared in the worker snake right at the
shoulder. Pooty soon yell see, Peleg,
wat that apparatus were fer.
Long in the last part o. April was the
time th't this family Of sarpints get ready
fer their seasons hatchin'. Then ye'd
see the drill snake, an the worker snake
pickin, out their ground. Wen that were
foun' to suit 'em, the drill snake ID stiffen
hissef like an axe handle, give hissef
{ spring up in the air, and come down with
his drill straight In the groun' and to its
full length. AS he struck, the weight Of
his head ID drive the spring Of his tail end
down fat, but in the tenth of second it
I'd fly up to its place agin. That ID throw
the drill snake up in the air, an he'd sail
ahead mebbe ten foot, wen down he'd
( come agin, an SO on, ez long as he wanted
to. Wall, follerin' right along arter the
drill snake come the splitter snake, twisted
in her pootty letter Sshape. She'd sail up
o;the fust hole her OIL man had drilled,
stop fer q second, shoot her head down to
tho hole an spit an egg inter it. Then
away she'd 60 to the next hole. Ifergot to
tell ye that she had three egg chambers.
One Of s'em held the egg th't Matched the
o11l4 6116thC1 OuS uS1Q Cu0 6HluVS4 oA@AO
eggs, an the third the worker snake eggs
sure supply o. each kind o. snake. In one
hole she'd spit one kind o. egg, another
kind in the next, and t'other kind in the
next, OF. all three TO wunst In one hole, If
she wanted to- An so she'd 50 on fol-
lerin' the drill snake ez he went leapin'
over the country, peggin' holes In the
ground fer her to spit in.
sFollerin' the splitter snake come the
worker snake, churnin' its way along fast
an easy. It'd stop at the fust hole the
splitter had been at, an then ye'd see
sumpin' funny. That sheet o. thin bone d
raise up from the workers. back, an ye'd
see th't wat said looked like o lead pen
Gil were handle fast to the bone, an
worked on hinge ut the snakes shoulder
an ye'd see at wunst th't the hull business
were ez complete hoe an' handle ez any
|; one could whittle out. Well, Peleg, the
, worker would throw that little hoe ahead
Of itself, an it'd strike the ground on
t'other side the hole. Then the worker
ID hump itself o little, an pull the dirt
back with the hoe an kiver up the egg
th't had been spit in thar, an it were per-
tected the slickest kind, an could go right
on hatohin'. Then the worker ID foller
on to the next hole an the next jest ez
long ez the driller and the splitter thort
best to keep up the plantin'. Mustn't
that ha' been funny sight, Peleg'"
yes, gran'pop," replied little Peleg,
with btlging eyes; sbut what did they
make theworker snake 80 fat for?"
",Dzac'ly," said the Old Settler.
",Dzac,ly. EuoW,d ye'd asst me that,
Peleg. III tell ye why the worker were
fat. Natur' don't make no mistakes. Ye
see the drill snake were so heavy that he
couldn't swim, an it often happened in
their journeys 'roun' the country tn t they
had TO cross rivers an ponds. 1t were
part O, the duties o. the worker snake to
take the driller aboard of itself an ferry
him over to t'other side, an that were the
reason the worker were built that way.
The hoe layin' on its back at them times
made bully sail, an helped the worker
on its voyage amazin'.
! 6 sssNow this family o'.sarpints were ez
docile ez elephants an ez harmless as gin
ger pop. My poor oil father struck IN
dee one day th,t he see good labor
saYin' machine in them snakes, an he
ketched family O. young uns an trained
: 'em. The ;neighbors hardly believed it
the next spring, wen they come to our
clearin' nm, see driller snake, o splitter,
snake an O worker snake list more thin
I5lrfIIin,, en-, droppin' an kverin corn in
49,, n oIT7o - MY nlf dad shgd tpacfed